Zuckerberg’s Meta reportedly pauses work with Mercor after $10 billion Silicon Valley startup confirms security breach
Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has reportedly paused all work with data contracting startup Mercor following a major security breach.
According to a report prepared by WIREDAccording to people familiar with the matter, the pause is indefinite. The report also added that other major artificial intelligence laboratories are also re-evaluating their work with the Silicon Valley startup, which is in the process of investigating the incident.
The report comes just days after Mercor, the data contractor for major AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic, confirmed that it had been targeted in a security breach.
Mercor confirms security breach
The breach was linked to a ‘supply chain’ attack on the open-source LiteLLM tool, which millions of developers use to connect their applications to AI services.
The attack was linked to a hacking group called TeamPCP, which is known for orchestrating these ‘supply chain’ attacks targeting software libraries that developers commonly use when writing their own code.
Separately, the extortion-famous Lapsus$ hacking group also claimed responsibility for the breach and even released samples of data it claimed was stolen.
According to TechCrunch, the sample included ticketing data as well as material reference data from Slack, a widely used workplace communication app. There were also two videos that allegedly showed conversations between the Silicon Valley startup’s artificial intelligence systems and contractors on its platform.
Mercor confirmed it was “one of thousands of companies” affected by the data breach, but did not provide further details.
Company spokeswoman Heidi Hagburg said: TechCrunch He added that Mercor “took immediate action” to bring the situation under control and that a third-party forensic investigation was launched.
“The privacy and security of our customers and contractors is the foundation of everything we do at Mercor,” Hagburg said, adding: “We will continue to communicate directly with our customers and contractors as appropriate and will dedicate the necessary resources to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.”
However, Hagberg did not comment on whether customers’ and contractors’ data was accessed and misused.
About Mercor
Founded in 2023 and considered one of Silicon Valley’s newest start-ups, Mercor employs doctors, scientists, lawyers, etc. in various markets, including India. It works with AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to help train models by contracting experts.
Mercor raised $350 million in a Series C funding round led by Felicis Ventures in October 2025, valuing it at $10 billion.
